SAN JOSE, Calif., (April 23, 2001) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in Network Publishing, today announced an extension plug-in that will optimize Photoshop® software for use with the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor. The new plug-in takes advantage of Intel's latest processor technology and reaffirms Adobe's commitment to providing outstanding performance on the latest technology platforms.

Graphic artists and designers are under constant pressure to produce work quickly. The new plug-in ensures that designers can get the best possible performance from their Pentium 4 processor-based system, enabling them to work more efficiently and with greater visual freedom. Photoshop users will directly benefit from the Pentium 4 processor's high performance and 144 new instructions.

"Adobe and Intel are committed to working closely to deliver powerful solutions to Web and graphic designers," said Dan Russell, vice president of Intel Corporation and director in the Solutions Enabling Group. "Performance-intensive applications such as digital imaging, multimedia and 3-D graphics run great on the Pentium 4 processor, but will run even faster when the application is optimized to unleash its full potential. Photoshop users can now begin to realize that potential when using this new plug-in."

The new plug-in improves the performance of various Photoshop 6.0 functions on the Pentium 4 processor up to 70% faster, depending on the utilized Photoshop features that have been specifically optimized for the Pentium 4 processor. Photoshop continues to deliver the broadest and most productive toolset available and empowers users to work at peak efficiency and achieve the highest quality results across all media.

"At Adobe, we've had a long partnership with Intel to ensure that our customers can always get the maximum performance out of the latest Intel processors," said Kevin Connor, group product manager at Adobe. "Thanks to Photoshop's flexible plug-in architecture, we can release performance enhancements like the Pentium 4 plug-in over the Web, so that all of our existing customers can immediately realize the benefits."

Pricing and Availability

Photoshop's softwares Pentium 4 processor plug-in is expected to be available in May, with no charge to all Photoshop users. It can be downloaded directly from www.adobe.com and accompanying worldwide sites.